Looking for a guitar amp (preferably combo I could haul around, but stack might be ok) under $800 but no more than $1000, and it has to have a lot of bass. Enough to make a medium-sized room rattle a little bit. I play Metallica/trash, and I just LOVE playing those Hetfield-esque palm-muting riffs where I can ride the low E & chug it with a ton of bass and gain like a freight-train is coming through! Also have a pitch-shifter on my pedal that makes my electric sound like a bass guitar, which is fun to jam with so it would be nice to have decent bass to fool with that (I don't own a bass guitar/amp).

Tried amps like Peavey Vypyr Tube, Fender Mustang III, Peavey Valveking 112, and they just don't have enough bass. People hate the Spider IV but the 150w had more than enough bass for me. Also rented a Traynor Custom Special 50 & it had a good amount of bass but is expensive and isn't geared toward metal. Thought of a 6505+ 112 but I heard the cleans aren't the best.

My info:
Been playing guitar for 6 yrs. Mostly been just fooling around by myself at home, but I'm starting to jam with more guitarists/drummers so I need to upgrade my wimpy 15-watt amp. I play on an Ibanez RG120 electric. The only pedal I have is a Digitech RP250 multi-effects pedal (distortion modeling is weak on it). Live in Ottawa, Canada.

I play a lot of hard rock & metal, a lot of Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, some AC/DC, John Frusciante etc. I also play clean stuff too, w/ some reverb & delay slapped on, more mellow, like Explosions in the Sky, U2, indie stuff.

You might be able to snag an Egnater Tweaker 88 and a 2x12 either used or on sale for that price. I think it's a great compromise between metal amps with a crap clean channel and vintage style amps without enough drive/flexibility.
Actually, the 40 watt tweaker might be worth a look too, but the 88 really has a lot of junk in the trunk.
A JSX might work for you, too. Better cleans than the 6505.

Whatever you get should probably include a 2x12 or larger with a closed back and some decent modern speakers. No point in putting out all that bass if the cab can't keep up. Actually, that might turn out to have been the key all along. The Vypyr certainly has quite a lot of bass available.

Whatever you get should probably include a 2x12 or larger with a closed back and some decent modern speakers. No point in putting out all that bass if the cab can't keep up. Actually, that might turn out to have been the key all along.

big +1

my JTM45 has a ton of bass... but that probably isn't for you.

__________________
punk isn't dead, it's always smelled that way.

"A perfection of means, and confusion of aims, seems to be our main problem."
-ae

if you play a lot of metallica type stuff, the tweaker series is not for you.

in general, i would say wattage matters less than cab. you want your room to shake, get no less than a 2x12.

seeing as you want the metal chugga chuga, your probably gonig to want a semi higher wattage higher gain amp, or atleast an amp voiced for that type of music that is designed not to be anemic in the low end....like the dark terrors or something

if you play a lot of metallica type stuff, the tweaker series is not for you.

in general, i would say wattage matters less than cab. you want your room to shake, get no less than a 2x12.

seeing as you want the metal chugga chuga, your probably gonig to want a semi higher wattage higher gain amp, or atleast an amp voiced for that type of music that is designed not to be anemic in the low end....like the dark terrors or something

I've played a Tweaker 88 through the matching 2x12 and those twin KT88's have some serious thump. IMO it could easily do modern metal and down

I have a JSX and it sounds badass for Thrash Metal. I keep the Bass around 4/10 and it's sounds very tight with Palm mutes. Also my friend has a Randall V2 and to be honest one the best amps I've heard with that low end you might be wanting.
Here is a link of my band playing Lucretia by Megadeth
I'm the one on the right with the Peavey JSX and my friend is on the left with The Randall V2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLYa...=5&feature=plcp

I have a JSX and it sounds badass for Thrash Metal. I keep the Bass around 4/10 and it's sounds very tight with Palm mutes. Also my friend has a Randall V2 and to be honest one the best amps I've heard with that low end you might be wanting.
Here is a link of my band playing Lucretia by Megadeth
I'm the one on the right with the Peavey JSX and my friend is on the left with The Randall V2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLYa...=5&feature=plcp

I've played a Tweaker 88 through the matching 2x12 and those twin KT88's have some serious thump. IMO it could easily do modern metal and down

I agree. Bruce actually gets kinda annoyed when people claim his amps can't do Metal (not counting the Vengeance and Armageddon, of course) because usually if they cant' on their own, adding a boost is all you need. I mean, the JCM800 was THE Metal amp of the 80's and even some of the 90's, and every Metal player boosted that amp.

I agree that the Tweaker 88 is a great choice.

I would like to add the Egnater Vengeance to the list of great choices. I have my bass at about 1:00 and my Density is at 10:00 (the presence and Density controls give +/- 12db, so I'm actually CUTTING the Density) and I have PLENTY of bass in my tone. Granted, I'm mixed for a band, so I have to be careful with adding too much bass to my sound, but this thing has PLENTY of bass. You could shake your neighbors' windows with this thing.

More importantly, I recommend you get a cab with speakers built for bass. Anything would sound like a bass machine with a 4x12 loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs (not something I recommend). I would say if you can get a cab loaded with Celestion G12K-100's, maybe those mixed with something else. Avatar cabs are a good way to go with this sort of thing. A 2x12 loaded with a Celestion G12K-100 and Celestion Vintage 30 would be a good option for you. Plenty of bass and clarity. It's a great combo for metal. V30's are the standard, go-to Metal speaker and K-100's are used by Slayer's Kerry King, not to mention many others. You don't want to get something TOO bassy, because if you join a band or jam with a bassist, you have to dial out a good amount of bass to make room for him in the mix.

EDIT: I should also add that the Vengeance will do everything from Pristine Cleans to the heaviest of modern metal, no boost needed (although you may want one depending on personal taste...some people like the way a tube amp reacts to a boost. A lot of people boost 6505's to tighten them up)

I agree. Bruce actually gets kinda annoyed when people claim his amps can't do Metal (not counting the Vengeance and Armageddon, of course) because usually if they cant' on their own, adding a boost is all you need. I mean, the JCM800 was THE Metal amp of the 80's and even some of the 90's, and every Metal player boosted that amp.

Yeah I don't like to call people out, but if you can't do metal on a Tweaker 88 you're either doin it rong, or are trying to use wayyy too much gain. My view of "metal" may be different than others though. I like a dark smooth almost muddy saturated distortion. It takes a good quality amp to play and still sound good.

The Mesa Single Rectifier sounds very thick for a 50 watter. Just as big sounding as some 100 watters. Lot's of gain and lot's of bass.
Use an OD pedal if you want to make it uber tight and responsive.
At between $650 & $850 they are a steal on the used market for the quality in tone they offer.

Yeah I don't like to call people out, but if you can't do metal on a Tweaker 88 you're either doin it rong, or are trying to use wayyy too much gain. My view of "metal" may be different than others though. I like a dark smooth almost muddy saturated distortion. It takes a good quality amp to play and still sound good.

There are many, many flavors of Metal that use a huge array of high-gain tones, so an amp may not do the style of Metal you want, but it'll probably do Metal. In his case, the Tweaker could nail the Thrash tones he's seeking. Now, if he gets into other Metal genres, the Vengeance may be a better choice, but the Tweakers are versatile enough that they should have no issue doing most brands of Metal. I personally haven't sat down with one and tried to nail every Metal tone I could think of, but with the settings available it should have no issues.